Should California inmates practice safe sex?

July 8, 2013

A California lawmaker has proposed requiring state prison officials to distribute condoms to inmates in order to limit the spread of HIV and other diseases. [ABC 10]

Democratic Assemblyman Rob Bonta’s bill, AB 999, would require the state Department of Corrections to make condoms available in five prisons a year beginning in 2015 and in all state prisons by 2020.

State law currently prohibits inmate sex, but the frequency in which inmates do have sex has led to a rate of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases that is much higher than the general population.

In 2007, a similar bill passed the legislature, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. Schwarzenegger, however, directed the Department of Corrections to institute a pilot condom distribution program for inmates.

Between November 2008 and November 2009, the state distributed condoms in vending machines at Solano State Prison.

The effect of the program on the sexually transmitted disease rate in the prison is unknown, according to the bill.

24 Comments

There are to reasons everyone should be concerned with the transmission of AIDS in prison.
1: Finance: It cost $22,000. a year to treat AIDS, or $600,000.00 per person in a 22 year lifetime, according to an NBC News study reported in 2006. Not to mention the SSI disability check of $850. a month, in CA.

2: The spread of the disease. Many inmates are high risk for contracting AIDS, i.e. the addict, who may only be in prison for short amount of time, many less than a year, then released. They go back on the streets, with the AIDS virus they contracted in prison,and share it with their spouse, their girlfriends/boyfriends, and anyone, who could be unaware that their partner was even in prison. Look at Martha Stewart. Who would have guessed.
Even if compassion isn’t a factor, tax money and the risk of contracting AIDS on the streets, in your family or even in your bed, should be enough reasons to support condoms in prison.

Why are we as a society even having this discussion, let alone considering it. If you locked them all up in single man cells, it wouldn’t be an issue. The idea is that since they are not fit to live in society, and MUST be locked up, that means you lose from “freedoms”. If not, then don’t waste all the money by locking them up in the first place.

I wonder if they will be able to get married in prison? And what if they don’t believe in safe sex. What are you going to do, put them in prison? What if they sold the condoms and they were used for water balloons instead of safe sex. Although breaking a water filled condom on somebody’s face would take the sex drive away for a short time. I guess they could be considered being used as a new devise to use for safe sex. Kind of fit right in to the prison lifestyle.

I’m guessing since I only spent four days in jail when I was 19. (My God, that was 50 years ago). . I didn’t get a condom I spent all my time playing cards with the tough guys and hiding in the corner of my cell experiencing pure fear.